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Are Online Course Enrollments Still Growing? What Do We Know About Online Students? What Do Online Students Want? What Are the Success Rates? What Skills Do Successful Online Students Need? What’s Different About Teaching Online? Some Common Questions about Online? 2 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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How Much Time Does It Take? Should I Use a Course Management System (CMS) If You “Build It” Will They Come? How Do You Retain Students Online? How Do You Create a Community of Learners? How Do You Supplement the Course With Your Own Material? Common Questions… (Con’t) 3 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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Yes. The evidence (from Sloan-C reports): – Over 3.9 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2007 term; a 12 percent increase over the number reported the previous year. – The 12.9 percent growth rate for online enrollments far exceeds the 1.2 percent growth of the overall higher education student population. – Over twenty percent of all U.S. higher education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of – In , 1.03 million U.S. students in K-12 schools participated in online courses (up 47% from the previous year) Are Online Course Enrollments Still Growing? 4 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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What Do We Know About Online Students? 75% were caring for dependents. Half were working at jobs more than 30 hours per week. Half were enrolled part-time compared with only 10% of other students. Online students were older (mean=32) on average than on-campus students. 63% of online students were first generation college compared with 42% of other students. The majority of online students chose this format for reasons of convenience and being able to work at their own pace National Survey of Student Engagement 5 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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What Do Online Students Want? Content that they feel is relevant to their needs Clear directions for what the should do at every stage of the course As much control of the pace of learning as possible A means of drawing attention to individual concerns Materials that are useful, active, and interesting (Moore, 1998) 6 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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What Are the Success Rates? Equal to or better than face-to-face classes Why are some online course outcomes better? – Syllabi are often revisited and refreshed when moving from face-to-face to online formats (quality improves) – Online format fosters more independent learning – Instructor gives more attention to some students who might otherwise be ignored – Students schedule study time with less distractions, greater concentration – Students study and interact with anyone rather than just who they sit next to in class 7 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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What Skills Do Online Students Need? A successful online learner should: be skilled in the use of online learning technologies, particularly communication and collaborative technologies. have a strong academic self-concept and good interpersonal and communication skills. have a basic understanding and appreciation of collaborative learning and develop competencies in related skills. acquire self-directed learning skills through the deployment of time management and cognitive learning strategies. (Dabbagh, 2007) 8 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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What’s Different About Teaching Online? CONS: There’s a learning curve Usually more time-consuming (at least initially) You see less students face-to-face Number of s increases More work must be done up-front You spend a lot of time on the computer 9 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer

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PROS: Increased flexibility Ability to teach from any location Building a community of learners is possible!! Can be equally rewarding and enjoyable as face-to-face Number of students you can reach individually increases Students can collaborate easier Students have greater responsibility for their learning 10 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer What’s Different About Teaching Online?

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PROS (Con’t): Assessments (such as homework & quizzes) can be automatically graded, saving time Mid-course corrects can be made based on feedback You and your students have more time to think and research before answering questions Technology use increases online (by necessity) Supplemental and enrichment materials can be more timely and individually focused 11 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer What’s Different About Teaching Online?

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Time required is greater than or equal to face-to-face classes To minimize that: – Don’t “reinvent the wheel.” Use a Course Management System (CMS) – Share online material with other faculty in your department – Link to quality online resources instead of making your own – Discourage the use of AND … – Encourage use of the discussion board – Build a FAQ section to respond to common questions 12 Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer How Much Time Does It Take?

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Should I Use a Course Management System (CMS)? It does not makes sense to reinvent the wheel. Using a CMS saves time and effort. It allows you to focus on good instruction instead of focusing on getting the materials online. Check for available resources FREE from a variety of publishers pre-loaded with textbook-specific content and numerous features (e.g., course cartridges). Some popular systems include Angel Learning, Blackboard, Desire2Learn, eCollege, Moodle and Sakai. Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer 13

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If You Build It, Will They Come? Online programs/courses are no “Field of Dreams.” Build it! Publicize it! Promote it! Support it! Evaluate it and Improve it! Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer 14

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How Do You Retain Online Students? Build a Community of Learners – Your participation is key – Students will “follow your lead” – Require a student intro be posted the first week – Discourage other forms of communication and focus on the Discussion Board – Visit Discussion Board daily, before you open your , before you check voic – Thank students by name, acknowledge their involvement, provide positive reinforcement Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer 15

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“Reach Out” at regular intervals to individual students – Send an to all registered students before class begins – Send to all students 1-2 weeks after semester starts – Send 1-2 weeks later, to students with little or no activity, asking how you can help – Send before the Midterm, with study suggestions and wishing them luck – Send before drop deadline encouraging catch-up and offering help Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer 16 How Do You Create a Community of Learners?

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Encourage student-to-student interaction Form groups Homogeneous or random? Assign peer-evaluated projects or papers Praise students for helping each other (public acknowledgement on the Discussion Board or privately in an ) Choose a student or group of students to be in the “hot seat” for a question in the discussion board Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer 17 How Do You Create a Community of Learners?

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Supplement the Course with Your Own Material Some suggested products: Microsoft PowerPoint Screen capture programs like Camtasia and SnagIt at or Jing (www.jingproject.com) Movie-making software like Movie Maker or PhotoStory plus a webcam, digital video cam, or your digital still camera and a microphone Create a video in your own studio or a podcast from home Use a Tablet PC to “ink” your lectures and review sessions Include live web conferencing technology like Elluminate, DimDim or Adobe ConnectPro for instructional sessions, office hours or extra help. Burton, McPherson & Uttendorfer 19